Combining electro-bioremediation of nitrate in saline groundwater with concomitant chlorine production

Reagent-free phosphorus precipitation from a denitrified swine effluent in a batch electrochemical system

There is high interest in the recovery of phosphorus (P) from wastewater through crystallization processes. However, the addition of chemical reagents (e.g., sodium hydroxide) to raise the pH may result in high treatment costs and increased concentrations of undesired metal ions (e.g., sodium). As an alternative, in this research we considered electrochemical mediated precipitation at low current densities (0.4-1.2 A m-2) without using chemical reagents. For that purpose, a two-chamber electrochemical system was operated in batch for treating denitrified swine effluent (48 mg P L-1). By applying current at 1.2 A m-2, and targeting pH 11.5, a maximum P removal rate of 33.4 mmol P (L·d-1) was obtained while the P removal efficiency was above 90 %. New solids that formed mostly remained suspended in the catholyte. Before discharge, the catholyte effluent was recirculated to the anodic compartment to neutralize the pH, achieving a final pH of 6.4 ± 0.1. Chlorine (Cl2) production in the anodic compartment was favored by a small anode surface and a high initial pH of the catholyte. Although the production of chlorine achieved was limited (the highest concentration was 8.6 ± 0.1 mg Cl2 L-1) these findings represent a new opportunity for the recovery and onsite use of this side-product. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests confirmed that the deposition of solids inside the cathodic compartment during the experimental period was limited. Membrane analysis revealed significant scaling of carbonate compounds. The electrochemical treatment described above was shown as a promising alternative to sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid dosage for pH adjustment when crystallizing phosphate salts.

Chemical-physical parameters and microbial community changes induced by electrodes polarization inhibit PCB dechlorination in a marine sediment

Microbial reductive dechlorination of organohalogenated pollutants is often limited by the scarcity of electron donors, that can be overcome with microbial electrochemical technologies (METs). In this study, polarized electrodes buried in marine sediment microcosms were investigated to stimulate PCB reductive dechlorination under potentiostatic (-0.7 V vs Ag/AgCl) and galvanostatic conditions (0.025 mA·cm-2-0.05 mA·cm-2), using graphite rod as cathode and iron plate as sacrificial anode. A single circuit and a novel two antiparallel circuits configuration (2AP) were investigated. Single circuit polarization impacted the sediment pH and redox potential (ORP) proportionally to the intensity of the electrical input and inhibited PCB reductive dechlorination. The effects on the sediment's pH and ORP, along with the inhibition of PCB reductive dechlorination, were mitigated in the 2AP system. Electrodes polarization stimulated sulfate-reduction and promoted the enrichment of bacterial clades potentially involved in sulfate-reduction as well as in sulfur oxidation. This suggested the electrons provided were consumed by competitors of organohalide respiring bacteria and specifically sequestered by sulfur cycling, which may represent the main factor limiting the applicability of METs for stimulating PCB reductive dechlorination in marine sediments.

Nitrate electro-bioremediation and water disinfection for rural areas

Nitrate-contaminated groundwater is a pressing issue in rural areas, where up to 40 % of the population lacks access to safely managed drinking water services. The high costs and complexity of centralised treatment in these regions exacerbate this problem. To address this challenge, the present study proposes electro-bioremediation as a more accessible decentralised alternative. Specifically, the main focus of this study is developing and evaluating a compact reactor designed to accomplish simultaneous nitrate removal and groundwater disinfection. Significantly, this study has established a new benchmark for nitrate reduction rate within bioelectrochemical reactors, achieving the maximum reported rate of 5.0 ± 0.3 kg NO3- m-3NCC d-1 at an HRTcat of 0.7 h. Furthermore, thein-situ generation of free chlorine was effective for water disinfection, resulting in a residual concentration of up to 4.4 ± 1.1 mg Cl2 L-1 in the effluent at the same HRTcat of 0.7 h. These achievements enabled the treated water to meet the drinking water standards for nitrogen compounds (nitrate, nitrite, and nitrous oxide) as well as pathogens content (T. coliforms, E. coli, and Enterococcus). In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential of the electro-bioremediation of nitrate-contaminated groundwater as a decentralised water treatment system in rural areas with a competitive operational cost of 1.05 ± 0.16 € m-3.

Effects of two plant species combined with slag-sponges on the treatment performance of contaminated saline water in constructed wetland

Constructed wetland (CW), an ecological water treatment system, can purify and repair the damaged saline water body in an open watershed, but its repairing function is limited at low temperature under salt stress. In this study, two different plant species with slag-sponge layer were operated to enhance the purification effect of CW on the damaged saline water body. The results showed that the combination of Scirpus mariqueter and slag-sponges in CW had a better purification effect especially under the condition of salinity of 10‰ (S = 10) with a respective removal efficiency of 91.04% of total nitrogen, 80.07% of total phosphorus, and 93.02% of COD in high temperature (25 ~ 35 °C). Furthermore, ecological traits (enzyme activity and amino acids) of plants, the abundance and distribution of functional microorganisms on the surface of slag-sponges, and the microbial state on the substrate surface of the denitrifying zone of CW were analyzed to explain how exactly the combinations worked. It was found that the enrichment of functional microorganisms in slag-sponge and the anaerobic zone of plants have improved the nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Plants maintained high enzyme activities and the ability to synthesize key amino acids under salt stress to ensure the growth and reproduction of plants and achieve the assimilation function. Scirpus mariqueter combined with slag-sponges in CW effectively improved the purification effect of damaged saline water, indicating that it is an ecological and green saline water treatment way.

Effect of hydraulic retention time on the electro-bioremediation of nitrate in saline groundwater

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) have proven their capability to treat nitrate-contaminated saline groundwater and simultaneously recover value-added chemicals (such as disinfection products) within a circular economy-based approach. In this study, the effect of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) on nitrate and salinity removal, as well as on free chlorine production, was investigated in a 3-compartment BES working in galvanostatic mode with the perspective of process intensification and future scale-up. Reducing the HRT from 30.1 ± 2.3 to 2.4 ± 0.2 h led to a corresponding increase in nitrate removal rates (from 17 ± 1 up to 131 ± 1 mgNO₃^--N L^-1d^-1), although a progressive decrease in desalination efficiency (from 77 ± 13 to 12 ± 2 %) was observed. Nitrate concentration and salinity close to threshold limits indicated by the World Health Organization for drinking water, as well as significant chlorine production were achieved with an HRT of 4.9 ± 0.4 h. At such HRT, specific energy consumption was low (6.8·10^-2 ± 0.3·10^-2 kWh g^-1NO₃^--N_removed), considering that the supplied energy supports three processes simultaneously. A logarithmic equation correlated well with nitrate removal rates at the applied HRTs and may be used to predict BES behaviour with different HRTs. The bacterial community of the bio-cathode under galvanostatic mode was dominated by a few populations, including the genera Rhizobium, Bosea, Fontibacter and Gordonia. The results provide useful information for the scale-up of BES treating multi-contaminated groundwater.

Electrochemical nitrate removal by magnetically immobilized nZVI anode on ammonia-oxidizing plate of RuO2-IrO2/Ti

Ammonium as the major reduction intermediate has always been the limitation of nitrate reduction by cathodic reduction or nano zero-valent iron (nZVI). In this work, we report the electrochemical nitrate removal by magnetically immobilized nZVI anode on RuO₂-IrO₂/Ti plate with ammonia-oxidizing function. This system shows maximum nitrate removal efficiency of 94.6% and nitrogen selectivity up to 72.8% at pH of 3.0, and it has also high nitrate removal efficiency (90.2%) and nitrogen selectivity (70.6%) near neutral medium (pH = 6). As the increase of the applied anodic potentials, both nitrate removal efficiency (from 27.2% to 94.6%) and nitrogen selectivity (70.4%-72.8%) increase. The incorpration of RuO₂-IrO₂/Ti plate with ammonia-oxidizing function on the nZVI anode enhances the nitrate reduction. The dosage of nZVI on RuO₂-IrO₂/Ti plate (from 0.2 g to 0.6 g) has a slight effect (the variance is no more than 10.0%) on the removal performance. Cyclic voltammetry, Tafel analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were further used to investigate the reaction mechanisms occurring on the nZVI surfaces in terms of CV curve area, corrosion voltage, corrosion current density and charge-transfer resistance. In conclusion, high nitrate removal performance of magnetically immobilized nZVI anode coupled with RuO₂-IrO₂/Ti plate may guide the design of improved electrochemical reduction by nZVI-based anode for practical nitrate remediation.

Multi-objective optimization-based reactive nitrogen transport modeling for the water-environment-agriculture nexus in a basin-scale coastal aquifer

The quantification of trade-offs between social-economic and environmental effects is of great importance, especially in the semi-arid coastal areas with highly developed agriculture. The study presents an integrated multi-objective simulation-optimization (S-O) framework to evaluate the basin-scale water-environment-agriculture (WEA) nexus. First, the variable-density groundwater model (SEAWAT) is coupled to the reactive transport model (RT3D) for the first attempt to simulate the environmental effects subject to seawater intrusion (SWI) and nitrate pollution (NP). Then, the surrogate assisted multi-objective optimization algorithm is utilized to investigate the trade-offs between the net agricultural benefits and extents of SWI and NP while considering the water supply, food security, and land availability simultaneously. The S-O modeling methodology is applied to the Dagu River Basin (DRB), a typical SWI region with intensive agricultural irrigation in China. It is shown that the three-objective space based on Pareto-optimal front can be achieved by optimizing planting area in the irrigation districts, indicating the optimal evolution of the WEA nexus system. The Pareto-optimal solutions generated by multi-objective S-O model are more realistic and pragmatic, avoiding the decision bias that may often lead to cognitive myopia caused by the low-dimensional objectives. Although the net agricultural benefits in Pareto-optimal solutions are declined to some extent, the environmental objectives (the extents of SWI and NP) are improved compared to those in the pre-optimized scheme. Therefore, the proposed multi-objective S-O framework can be applied to the WEA nexus in the river basin with intensive agriculture development, which is significant to implement the integrated management of water, food, and environment, especially for the semi-arid coastal aquifers.